As our view of the world changes, it becomes possible to love others in a way that we previously reserved for ourselves alone. This genuine love is self-existent, beyond all contrivance and manipulation. It arises spontaneously, simply because the obstacles to its arising have been removed. Consequently, we can’t command…
Monthly Dharma Quotation: The Ungraspable Self As you begin to allow thoughts and feelings to be there, the mind often seems to become more, rather than less, irritating. It is not really becoming more irritating, the fact is, it was always like that, and you are just becoming more and…
How can we know we are genuinely relating to direct experience rather than just fooling ourselves? The only way to tell is by feeling the general direction of your practice. If egocentricity and attachment seem to be increasing as you practice, you’re probably following the wrong path. On the other…
You have to notice whether you are clinging to particular ideas so that they become part of the way you think you are. You think, this idea is me somehow and I’m not going to give this up: it’s too much me. It is as though certain concepts and certain…
To be sensitive there has to be some degree of openness and awareness, so these three qualities are the basis of what it is to be a sentient being, whether animal or human or anything else. There is therefore a basic kinship between all beings that goes very deep; right…
One of the dangers of expressing Dharma in the West is people have this idea that you’ve got to behave in a particular way. It’s prescriptive in other words. You have to be a good girl or a good boy and do this and do that and it’s not a…
Nobody can tell you, “Reality is like this!” or “Read my book for a complete explanation of all the secrets of the universe.” The truth has to be perceived directly, which is why even buddhas can never really communicate it to others. It isn’t that they don’t want to; we…
Opinions, emotions, prejudices and ideas change, but even so they are still what we identify with. We think all this is ‘me,’ but actually it is just something that arises within that space [of] awareness and sensitivity. It is just a feature of that. The person in charge is not…
This month’s quotation is from a teaching Rigdzin Shikpo gave on Refuge and Bodhisattva vows. The entire teaching is made available to students who prepare to go for refuge with Rigdzin Shikpo. Some practice traditions are based on a kind of superstition in making bold statements like “May I die…
